Researching is Real World Experience for a Researcher

[hightecrebel]

Personally, I am of the opinion that someone planning to teach history should make an effort to explore some of the historic sites that still have the historic quality to them. All respect due, the Alamo is not the Alamo as it was. It's a single building now, and I at least couldn't really picture the battle any of the times that I've been there. in such a case, a map does it better. That said, standing on Little Round Top and looking down through the trees, or walking Devil's Den, is an experience that is completely different. While Gettysburg has grown, it hasn't consumed the battlefield in the way that San Antonio has the Alamo.

As for history majors in the military who know little to no history, I've encountered them as well. Normally they were rather poor officers as well, so I put it down to their personal ethic as opposed to a hit on the professors, courses, or colleges. Though the one who insisted that the Revolutionary War began when the Revere-led minutemen fired on the British at Bunker Hill tested my restraint...

[bluebooger]

.. Though the one who insisted that the Revolutionary War began when the Revere-led minutemen fired on the British at Bunker Hill tested my restraint...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI

[ryoder]

I had an intro to anthropology teacher who was an assistant professor and he spent his time during his dissertation smoking up with Rastas in Jamaica. The guy was a tool. The real world experience didn't help him. Of course your mileage may vary. For a computer science teacher I would expect them to have done actual software development and I would expect an accountant to have prepared a few hundred tax returns.

[sanantone]

Accounting is an applied field, but there's so much more to it than preparing taxes. Someone could possibly have a lot of experience in accounting and never prepared a tax return for an individual or business.

[dfrecore]

I worked in accounting & finance for years, knew many accountants & CPA's, and most did not do their own taxes (or anyone else's for that matter). Most accounting-related fields having absolutely nothing to do with taxes.

And, you don't have to be an accountant or have any college work in accounting to work at H&R Block doing people's taxes - you can get certified as a tax preparer.

[ryoder]

Good point. It was just an analogy though. It was like saying you should learn from a doctor who has set a broken bone. In fact many doctors don't work on broken bones. There are dermatologists for example who have never set a bone and you don't even need to be a doctor to set a leg. A nurse practitioner can do it.

[Exfactor]

I'm currently working on my masters in applied psychology, and their are people in my graduate program who already have their masters in psychology from schools like Stanford University who are working on a second masters due to the fact that their degrees offered nothing but a non-applied approach. They know theory, but they don't know how to apply psychological principles into the real world. Which is what I love about the program that I'm in, as not only am I in many ways re-reviewing many of the theories I learned during undergraduate, I'm also learning how to apply those theories in a clinical setting. However, I think having a degree and not being able to apply the information is more common than we think.

[sanantone]

If you want to become an I/O psychologist, then you should get a degree in I/O psychology. If you want to become a counselor, then you should get a degree in counseling or a psychology program that includes a practicum and/or internship. I don't know about other states, but you can't become an LPC (equivalent of LMHC) in Texas without meeting curriculum, practicum, and internship requirements. If you want to become an experimental or social psychologist, then you most likely have no plans to work in a clinical setting.

[bluebooger]

in NY to be a licensed psychologist you have a doctoral degree in psychology
NYS Psychology:License Requirements

but for a Mental Health Counselor and Marriage and Family Therapists
it's more complicated
NYS Mental Health Practitioners:FAQ Education Requirements